Of family and reverence

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The question arises each January: “Mom, when is Tet this year?” You should know, she says. But I never really know.

Based on the lunar calendar, Tet Nguyen Dan, the Vietnamese New Year, relies on a specific new moon phase that I have never quite wrapped my brain around. It is not something that seamlessly syncs with my Google calendar.

Tet this year takes place Feb. 10. It is the year of the snake and will be celebrated Feb. 9-17. For someone like me, a first-generation Vietnamese American, Tet has always been an important, cannot-miss family event, much as Americans view Thanksgiving or Christmas – comfortable and familial. It is our most cherished holiday and, for my parents, it is also a chance to teach their grown children what it means to be Vietnamese.

In 2006, I wrote “The Little Saigon Cookbook,” a compilation of family and local recipes from Little Saigon. The community, where my family still lives, continues to have the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam. It is no wonder that so many Vietnamese gather in Little Saigon for Tet each year. And, as the annual celebration and festivities grow, it becomes a place for non-Vietnamese to visit.

But as someone who is most tied to her heritage via food and family, Tet is the very apex of cultural reverence.

Family and Home

Tet is the celebration of the new moon as it relates to the arrival of spring, which, growing up in Southern California, just meant more sunny weather. As a child, I always knew Tet as time for family reunions as I watched distant cousins, aunts and uncles travel to visit my grandparents when they were alive.

Sadly, I do not spend as much time in Little Saigon as when as I was writing the cookbook. Though my home in Silver Lake is not far away, Tet still marks a time of pilgrimage back to my ancestral home.

Preparation for Tet can be as laborious (or superstitious) as we want it to be. We regard this celebration as a reset of sorts, a chance for new beginnings. For that to take the place, we must start the year correctly. We have to let go and put all things in the past.

We focus on the new: The house must be thoroughly cleaned (much bad luck if you sweep during Tet ), the ancestral altar provided with fruit baskets and new incense; and the house adorned with hoa mai (cherry blossoms) or hoa oao (flowering peaches). Debts need to be settled, the hair cut and a new outfit purchased. The colors of red and gold brightly adorn many Vietnamese homes.

When Tet begins, the family gathers and pays homage to elders. The first day of Tet is the most important. This includes meditating before the family altar and visiting ancestral graves; a visit to the local Buddhist temple to provide a donation and, in return, receive blessings of fortune and good will for the year; and also to honor the children with li xi. These are red envelopes with fresh, crisp dollar bills that are given by the adults once a new year blessing has been bestowed. After well-wishing, the family plays a craps-style gambling game.

‘Eat' Tet

“An Tet” means to celebrate Tet, but the word “an” also means to eat. My family wholeheartedly embraces the idea of eating straight through an entire weekend during Tet. The food is always traditional, but usually the evening before means a big restaurant outing with the family.

Then it's a weekend of no cooking as it's bad luck. Vietnamese cuisine is valued for its freshness, but it does not ignore the value of cured, dried, braised or salted food when it comes to Tet. Candied and pickled treats and braised dishes that can be easily reheated become an important part of Tet food traditions.

In Little Saigon, traditional meals are served with purchased foods like sticky rice meat and bean fillings, dried candies and, for South Vietnamese like my family, the kho dishes (meats braised in coconut juice), which are key to the no-work-in-the-kitchen mode we must adopt for Tet.

I look forward to Tet this year as I'll be introducing my non-Vietnamese husband (we were married in September) to the many virtues of Tet traditions. With an expanding family and new generations to come, it's a time to consider what traditions they have grown up with and which they will choose to keep. Like all customs, be it recipes, familial or cultural, it all needs to be passed down by example. Newcomers like my husband need to learn by experience, and the easiest way to learn is to taste it. In his new mother-in-law's eyes, Tet will also be a time for him to learn how to be a good Vietnamese.

Here is a recipe for Chicken Braised in Ginger and Coconut (Ga Kho Gung), a traditional Tet dish.

Cook's notes: Fish sauce is available at many supermarkets with large Asian specialty sections.

Thai bird chilies are available at Asian markets and some supermarkets. Use caution when working with fresh chilies; wash hands and work surface thoroughly upon completion and do not touch face or eyes.

Coconut juice is the liquid from the interior of the coconut. Coco Rico soda is available at Asian markets.

Procedure

1. Wash chicken with cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Place on plate or baking dish in single layer and sprinkle with sugar. Let sit 15 minutes.

4. After 2 hours, chicken will be thoroughly cooked and meat will be falling off bones. The sauce will have thickened nicely. If you want a more syrupy texture, you can continue cooking, but no longer than 30 minutes more.

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